1.25.2012

I am retiring and privatizing, possibly permanently deleting my long-time blogs, sweetemploy and traipsingpele, in order to start a new project and conserve motivation/creative juice for said project. I'm not yet sure whether it will be a new site or if I will continue to work on either of the old ones, but I need free reign to approach any subject, and I need to do more personal writing. Also, the purpose of these blogs was as much, if not more in some ways, to get feedback/have conversations/get closer to other people and connect, as for documenting my inspirations and life. It's hard to put a ratio on the breakdown of that but I am 90% sure that I wouldn't have so orphaned these blogs if I felt the presence of people "out there" reading and engaging with me... I'm aware that this maybe my own oversight or forgetfulness, and if that is so, it doesn't change the feeling of something missing. That said, I am very glad if you have read and gained something from what I did, and thanks for the comments. If you wish to still have access to the archive of these entries and I haven't trashed the blogs, do let me know and give me an email address so I can add you. If you would like to subscribe to my upcoming project, I will say that there will be some ground rules. Right now I'm thinking along the lines of: subscribers write a response at least every other post, whether by commenting directly or emailing me, or talking to me in person within a week of that post. I plan to take more risks with the content, so it will be serving varied personal needs, of which, a very important one is to test and strengthen my connection with other people. I am pretty open to exploring that with anyone. So...lemme know.

8.31.2010

I subscribe to an excellent blog on martial arts and you should too! In fact, I've added it to my "KIN" sidebar at right - it's called Weakness With a Twist. I have posted videos here on sweetemploy before that I discovered there, and now again I must point to this gem from the youtubes:

At about minute 04:55 you will see the giant Fröbel toys in action, and you can read about the history of its inventor and demonstrator here. From what I understand of the narration, and my active imagination, it seems that these geometrically pleasing instruments are used to practice Push Hands in the absence of a partner, and they seem to give a soothing, invigorating massage as well! I think the garden globe (by the way, the one shown weighed 25 lbs) has found its true calling in this apparatus.

For comparison, the inventor of kindergarten, Freidrich Fröbel's desktop toys:

6.30.2010

Correct me if I am wrong: As far as I understand, these are sari blouses - ingenious garments that sometimes provide the support of a brassiere without the help of an extra contraption. This form-fitting element of the sari ensemble compliments the feminine silhouette without flaunting or hiding guiltily under the outfit. It's a great balance of fashion and function, and these bold patterns are pretty irresistable. Of course, similar to chipao/cheongsam, this normally works only if it is tailored to the individual form, and that form has to be pretty trim in the midsection. But maybe we should rediscover the beauty of variety in nature through fashion? I encourage you to contact Marilyn Ajju to inquire.

6.09.2010

I was never one to fantasize about space travel, and never even bothered to remember the names or order of the planets orbiting the solar system. Much more pressing to me were the mysteries of the aqua-scape. The allure of the ocean world is as exotic as space-travel, yet more real for some of us because we know that life exists down there, and we know it's completely different. It's our world reflected and distorted in a dimensional watery mirror.

Since the BP atrocity of late, I've been having flashes of Miyazaki-esque visions every time I hear about "plugging the leak" - visions of warfare roughly 6 lǐ under the surface.Oil booms do nothing for the critters that live in these depths, as we up here on the crust are barely aware they exist, and for many lacking imagination or research submarines, thinking of them may cause discomfort of mind or spirit. It's easier to assume nothing was lurking down there.

Nevertheless! Doubtless we are all inventing our own images of the gaping rupture, spewing dark volleys of oil, rushing and unfurling among the deep ocean waves. This post is my attempt to both inform your imagination and feed your subconscious, because so far it looks like anything goes down there! And listen up, my fellow aquatic apes, life as we know it may have actually evolved from it, as the original Hawaiians knew:

The drama of creation, according to the Hawaiian account, is divided into a series of stages, and in the very first of these life springs from the shadowy abyss and dark night. There is here, however, no long series of antecedent, vaguely personified entities ranged in genealogical sequence, but the immediate appearance of living things. At first the lowly zoophytes and corals come into being, and these are followed by worms and shellfish, each type being declared to conquer and destroy its predecessor, a struggle for existence in which the strongest survive. Parallel with this evolution of animal forms, plant life begins on land and in the sea--at first with the algae, followed by seaweeds and rushes. As type follows type, the accumulating slime of their decay raises the land above the waters, in which, as spectator of all, swims the octopus, the lone survivor from an earlier world.

Mythology of All Races, vol. ix ("Oceanic"), R.B. Dixon.

What's going on with our alien origins? Will they be swallowed in oily clouds of greed?

5.20.2010

5.07.2010

I found this wonderful tutorial today on youtube and it relates to my recent podcasting post. I encourage you to watch the tutorial and then listen to the Double Portions Podcasts here on sweetemploy while you explore the art of Double-Fist Drawing.